On the Flipside: A Korean Adventure (2): Weekend Updates: January 11-13

As all of the English teachers in Incheon are about to set off on their international trips, we all wanted to go out as a big group one last time before our vacations. On Friday, it was a low key night where Ian and I just went to see a movie. We saw Life of Pi in 3D and it was a really great movie. On Saturday, the group of us decided on going to Gangnam in Seoul. We went to a fun cocktail bar called Pandora, where 12,000 W (which is equivalent to ~10$ CAN) gave us unlimited drinks for the night. It was an amazing night out with great friends! We all couldn't help but notice the fashion in the club. Maybe it was because we were in Gangnam (one of the ritziest areas of Seoul) but the fashion was so out there and different. Another thing we couldn't help but notice (and laugh at) were some of the spelling mistakes on the drink menu. In Korea, English translations are often provided but don't always make sense. On Saturday, the "rum and coke" was mistakenly written as "rum and cock" on the drink menu...We had a good laugh at this one!

I was happy to get dressed up and go out in Gangnam on Saturday since it was Malanka (Ukrainian New Year). This was the first time in a few years I wasn't with my Ukrainian friends celebrating in Toronto. This year has been filled with changes, and although I was a little sad (especially now that I am seeing all the pictures being posted from the event), moving to Korea was definitely the right decision this year. We got to celebrate Malanka in Gangnam, and how often can I say that?

On Sunday, we bought a few things in preparation for our Japan trip next week. In the afternoon, we trekked it to the only KEB bank open in Incheon on weekends to exchange our money to Japanese Yen. Unfortunately, after waiting quite a while we were told that they don't convert Won to Yen on weekends - they only convert to Yen during the week. We though this was an odd rule, but oh well we will figure it out. We just need to keep with the "go with the flow" attitude.

This week, I am deskwarming again, but it's a lot better because one of my co-teachers is in the office this week with me, so I am not completely alone. Ian finished his one and only English camp last week. For the upcoming weeks he has been assigned to have telephone conversations with his students. He gave out a list of topics before the holidays and now it's the students turn to call and have a 4 minute conversation with Ian.